


tell me again why is it i can never do anything right?

by thereisnowarinbasingse



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: "i lost my little sibling in ikea and you offered to help me find them" au, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Fluff, I wrote this instead of school, Meet-Cute, because i have a potty mouth sorry, kinda shitty but like i don't care, like at all, literally only fluff?, self indulgence x1000, t for swearing ig
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-04
Updated: 2021-02-04
Packaged: 2021-03-15 19:27:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,517
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29194560
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thereisnowarinbasingse/pseuds/thereisnowarinbasingse
Summary: [ Of all the things Mai thought she would be doing on a Saturday afternoon, losing her brother in the middle of Ikea was not one of them. ]"i lost my little sibling in ikea and you offered to help me find them" au
Relationships: Mai/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 24
Kudos: 72
Collections: Canon Ship Fics of AtLA





	tell me again why is it i can never do anything right?

**Author's Note:**

> my process for this was basically i want to write something > lets write this instead of paying attention in physics and i wanted to get this up yesterday but then i fell asleep
> 
> enjoy!!

Of all the things Mai thought she would be doing on a Saturday afternoon, losing her brother in the middle of Ikea was not one of them. To be completely honest, she had never even planned on ending up in the brightly lit maze of wooden furniture and fake bedrooms in the first place: but purchasing a new display cabinet for the shop was apparently more important than Mai’s math assignment to Mom, and _then_ Tom-Tom got wind of the impending Ikea trip, and _Agni-forbid_ he be deprived of a chance to run amok in a store, _no-_

Oh, who was Mai kidding. She wouldn’t have ended up doing the math assignment today anyway. Back to the matter at hand.

“Tom-Tom?” she calls, pushing the trolley weakly in front of her as she walks past a particularly garish display of wall art. “Tom-Tom, where are you?”

No reply. Mai quickens her pace, taking a shortcut into the house plant zone.

Oh, Agni, Mom was going to kill her. She was the one who had helped convince Mom to let Tom-Tom come along, because “it’s Saturday, Mom, what else is he supposed to do” and “there’s only so many times he can practice his 7 times tables, Mom, come on”. Mai can feel her eyes stinging with tears, her throat constricting around her next words- and _no_ , she is _not_ going to cry in the middle of an Ikea, _dammit_ –

“Are you alright?”

Mai blinks. A boyish face peers at her in concern, his right hand hovering above her shoulder as if he were about to tap her, but thought better of it. A scar, red and mottled, stretches across the left side of his face and his golden eyes are narrowed, partially obscured by the too-short hair escaping his top-knot. He’s… good looking. _Pull yourself together, Mai_ , she scolds herself, _Not the time_.

“Are you okay?” Mai pulls herself out of her thoughts, flushing as she realises that she had been staring. She takes a step back. The guy looks embarrassed, finally pulling away his hand and shoving it in his pocket.

“I- I’m fine,” Mai confirms. “I’ve just lost my brother. He’s probably right here, but thanks for your concern.” With that, she veers the trolley off to the left, attempting to speed off before she embarrasses herself further.

“Hey- hey, wait!” the guys calls, and strides to catch up with her. Mai turns to face him. “I can help.”

“No.”

“Come on, promise I’m not a creep!” Mai sends a flat look his way. “Ok, that sounds like something a creep would say,” he admits, “but I’m not! I actually have a younger sibling too! Two, in fact!”

Mai takes a second to weigh up her options. On one hand, she could refuse, continue looking for Tom-Tom on her own, and avoid kidnapping. On the other, she could get this guy to help her, maybe split up and cover more ground and maybe end up in the back of a white van. Fifty- fifty, really.

Well. Auntie Mura always said two heads were better than one. And Mai’s feeling impulsive.

“Fine.”

“Wait, really?”

“Don’t look so surprised, you’re the one who asked,” Mai says, continuing forward, the handlebar of the trolley pressing into her stomach. “Anyway, his name is Tom-Tom. He’s about this high,” she says, gesturing to around her waist, the guys eyes flickering towards her hand, “black hair, wearing a red shirt, and hyperactive. Got it?”

“Hey, hey, slow down,” the guy jogs lightly to keep up with her. “I’m Zuko.”

“Lovely.”

“Are you not going to give me your name, or-”

She sighs. “Mai. My name is Mai.”

Zuko sends a grin her way. It’s endearing, but Mai would rather dive into an active volcano than admit that to anyone. “That’s a pretty name.”

“Glad you think so,” she replies sardonically. Zuko scratches the back of his neck sheepishly, and deflects.

“Hm, so about your brother- where have you looked already?”

Mai’s glad he’s finally taken the hint. “I’ve looked here, in houseplants, and I was in the wall décor before so-”

“What I’m getting here is ‘not many places’.”

Mai glares at him. He laughs. It’s a nice sound, good humoured and coarse-

_No_. Mai stops herself right there. She is not going to melt over some random guy’s laugh when her brother is lost in a multiple storey retail store, crying his eyeballs out for all she knew.

“- and if we still haven’t found him by then, we can go to the bottom floor. He probably hasn’t gotten further than this floor, to be honest.”

Agni, had he been speaking this whole time?

She nods dazedly, and as Zuko gives her another soft smile as he manoeuvres the trolley towards the kitchen utensils zone Mai takes a second to scold herself. Why is she letting him get to her so much? Agni, she’s acting like a hormonal thirteen-year-old again, admiring his laugh, of all things. It’s embarrassing _. Get it together. You’re going to find Tom-Tom, and you’re never going to see this guy again_ , she tells herself. _Get it together_.

“So,” Zuko begins. “why are you in Ikea in the first place?” Mai raises her eyebrows. Zuko flushes.

“Why am I in Ikea? Why do you think?”

“It was just a question!”

“It was a stupid one.” Honestly, Mai thinks she should cut him some slack. The guy was obviously terrible at small talk. She changes her mind, and obliges. “We had to get a display case for the shop. My aunt owns a flower shop, and I work there part time.”

“Hey, my uncle owns a tea shop. I work there part time too. Wasn’t aware that was a reoccurring theme.”

Huh. “That’s interesting, actually. Are you still in school, or-”

“Yeah, I’m a second year. Classics. You?”

“First year. Criminal psych.” Agni, this is so awkward.

“What about Tom-Tom- that’s his name, right- how old is he?”

Mai could almost sigh in relief from the attention being diverted away from her. “He’s six. He goes to the primary downtown. Szeto Primary?”

“Hey,” Zuko’s eyes brighten with recognition. “That’s where my little sister goes!”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Her name’s Kiyi, but she’s a year older, probably why I haven’t seen you around.”

Mai hums nonchalantly in response, and a lull in the conversation follows as they make their way systematically through the display rooms. Mai and Zuko squeeze past a bumbling family taking up the majority of the walk-way, loudly arguing about who knows what because _Zuko_ is pressed up beside her, _entirely_ too close for comfort, and Mai can feel her ears growing hot-

“You alright?” Zuko asks again.

Mai gives a quick nod in response, smoothing down her clothes, but Zuko takes a step towards her, adjusting her collar just slightly. Mai’s breath hitches.

“Sorry,” Zuko says quickly. “Sorry, I- I shouldn’t have done that. It’s just you’re really- um, really pretty, and- oh, shit, I probably shouldn’t have said that-” Mai finds the tiniest smile gracing her lips.

“No, I don’t think you should have.” Zuko ducks his head, a slight flush dusting his cheekbones. Mai extends her finger and tilts his head back up.

He looks down at her in confusion, and starts when he sees the amused expression her face. It’s quite comical, really.

“Are you-” he begins, but is quickly interrupted by a red blur nearly knocking Mai over as he wraps his arms around her legs.

“M-Mai! I swear, don’t tell Mom, I just wanted to look at the plushies, but then you were gone and I- I couldn’t find you- “

Mai’s heart squeezes. She boosts Tom-Tom up into her arms, and he buries his head into the crook of her neck. She can feel a growing wet patch on her shoulder. Zuko looks on in concern, and Mai sends a reassuring look his way. She gently nudges Tom-Tom’s cheek with her knuckle, and he lifts up his blotchy red face to apparently notice Zuko for the first time.

“Who are you?” he asks, with all the subtlety only a six-year-old could possess. Mai sends him a quelling look, but that only seems to spur him on more. “Wait, are you Mai’s _boyfriend_? Mai, do you have _a boyfriend_?”

“Shut up, Tom-Tom,” Mai warns. He grins cheekily.

“Mai has a boyfriend! Mai has a boyfriend! Mai has a-” Mai clamps a hand over Tom-Tom’s mouth, effectively muffling out his chants. Zuko looks on, seemingly entertained.

“Boyfriend, huh?” he says teasingly.

Mai rolls her eyes. “Give me your phone.”

“What?”

“Come on, you heard me. Give me your phone.”

Zuko hands it over, eyes wide as she types in her number.

“Did you just give him your number? Eugh, Mai, you _do_ have a boyfriend!”

Mai gives Zuko a soft smile. “No, but maybe I will.” She lifts two fingers to gently shut Zuko’s jaw, as he currently keeps looking at the phone and her in turn, mouth agape.

Well, she thinks, maybe this Ikea trip wasn’t such a waste of time after all.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

> hey! this isn't super great quality, and its really short BUT i really enjoyed writing it and it got me out of a super bad mood, so :))  
> i am also continuing to spread my "maiko needs more senseless fluff" agenda and it is very enjoyable i hope you appreciate it. while writing this i mostly listened to a new band i discovered, called second thoughts. i really like their music, it's very upbeat!
> 
> come talk to me on tumblr @thereisnowarinbasingsee (i'd love to make some new friends)
> 
> title from hot rod, by dayglow


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